Around the house

NBCUniversal has hired ex-Davis Polk & Wardwell partner Kimberley Harris as its head of legal. Ms Harris, who was a litigation partner at Davis Polk, will give advice to senior management as well as overseeing the legal department and dealing with regulatory and legislative matters. Most recently, she was employed by the White House Counsel’s Office, holding the position of deputy counsel and deputy assistant to the President .

The chief of the US Securities and Exchange enforcement unit which handled structured and new financial products is moving on. Kenneth Lench, who leaves the agency after 23 years, is said to be joining private practice. He was in charge of investigations in connection with the subprime-mortgage market, compiling cases against the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase & Co.

Byron Jacobson has taken up the position as general counsel at the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) after departing from Group Lotus. The former IP lawyer for the car manufacturer joins FACT as the company’s first permanent general counsel. FACT works as a trade organisation to fight online piracy in the UK by offering its services to branches of security.